Even as Bollywood release calendar is expected to go topsy-turvy once the stand off between
producers and multiplexes comes to some resolution, Ram Gopal Varma and UTV Motion Pictures are
sticking to the previous announced release plans for their horror film ‘Agyaat’. While there is a
huge accumulation of movies that have accumulated over last two months and it is expected to be a
nightmarish time for most producers to bring their movies to theatre on priority, ‘Agyaat’ is not
buzzing from its 24th July release date.
Verifies Ram Gopal Varma, who is fast wrapping up the principal shoot of ‘Rann’ and is already
looking at kick starting ‘Rakta Charitra’, "Yes, ‘Agyaat’ is definitely arriving on 24th July."
Shikha Kapoor - Marketing Head, UTV Motion Pictures - further goes on to elaborate, "We are
gearing up for 24th July release. We hope to attract significant foot falls as it will be one of
the few releases after a silent first half of the year. The first quarter of 2009 was hardly
productive for the industry while the second half has seen a virtual standstill with hardly any
notable releases."
While ‘Agyaat’ has started firming up its release plan, it would be interesting to see how
‘Kaminey’ fits into the scheme of things. Yet another UTV Motion Pictures production, the
promotion of this Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra starrer had begun in theaters a few months
back but the sudden strike by producers resulted in aborted plans for the movie.
If Agyaat indeed comes in the month of July, then UTV Motion Pictures is expected to be challenged
by logistics hassles if it were to bring ‘Kaminey’ in quick time too. Reason being, that it is
impossible for the film to arrive in June (since it would need at least 6 weeks of sustained
promotion) and bringing both ‘Kaminey’ and ‘Agyaat’ in the month of July may not really be the
best call taken by the production house.
In any case, UTV Motion Pictures has quite a few films piling up for release and ‘Agyaat’ along
with ‘Kaminey’ are not the only ones amongst the crowd. In months to come, the production house
has movies like ‘Kissan’, ‘Aage Se Right’, ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, ‘Hook Ya Crook’, ‘What's Your
Rashee’, ‘Wake Up Sid’ and ‘Johnny Mastana’ in the pipeline. This is not all as another arm of
UTV, UTV Spotboy, too has at least two movies gearing up for release soon – ‘Main Aur Mrs. Khanna
and Season Greetings’.
With close to a dozen odd movies slated for release in the second half of the year, it is but
obvious that there would be a release-a-fortnight situation for UTV unless it decides to push some
of its movies to 2010.
However, a source close to ‘Agyaat’ further reaffirms that there is no way this film primarily set
in a jungle would move ahead, "Whatever happens, Ramu's ‘Agyaat’ releases on 24th July 2009. The
movie is going to arrive with a bang because of quite a few factors. First and foremost, it has
names like Ram Gopal Varma and UTV attached to it. Secondly, it would be released in three
languages - Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. It's going to be one big movie after the strike is called
off."
‘Agyaat’ is about a film unit that goes for a shoot at a location deep in the forest of Sri Lanka
where each character exhibits his/her own eccentricity, arrogance and mixed feelings for each
other.
Starring Nitin Reddy, Priyanka Kothari, Ravi Kale, Ishrat Ali, Harvey Rosemeyer, Kali Prasad
Mukherjee, Rasika Duggal, Joy Fernandes, Ishteyak and Gautum Rode in principal roles, ‘Agyaat’ has
music by Bapi & Tutul and is a thriller that revolves around the realm of fear. |